Richard Lewis sentenced to life for kidnap-torture

COURTS

A member of the now-defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery was sentenced Friday to life in prison for kidnapping a mother and daughter in East Oakland in 2007 and torturing the daughter so she would reveal the location of a drug dealer's cash.

Richard Lewis, 26, was convicted by an Alameda County Superior Court jury in April of kidnapping, torture and carjacking. Judge Thomas Reardon sentenced him in Oakland on Friday to the maximum term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lewis was the first of several members of the bakery to face trial in the case, which stems from an incident on May 17, 2007, when several men in a car posing as a police cruiser pulled the two women over on Interstate 580 and forced them to get in.

Authorities said the kidnappers included Lewis and bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV, 24, who were intent on getting money to help pay the bakery's debts.

The two women were identified in court only as Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II. The men took them to an abandoned home on Avenal Avenue, where Lewis cut the younger woman with a knife and threatened to burn her with a hot curling iron if she didn't tell them where a drug dealer friend kept his money, said prosecutor Chris Lamiero.

The men fled when a police officer who had heard cries for help arrived at the home.

Lewis took the stand during his trial and denied any involvement in the kidnapping. His attorney, Patrick Hetrick, said Lewis had been framed by other defendants who have cut deals with prosecutors.

Two half brothers of Bey IV, Joshua Bey, 23, and Yusuf Bey V, 23, testified against Lewis at the trial. In exchange for telling the truth about what happened, Bey V was promised a prison term of 10 years in prison and Joshua Bey was told he would be given a three-year term.

Bey IV and another defendant, Tamon Halfin, 24, will be tried later on kidnapping and torture charges.